When we got back from our walk yesterday…Babe (our Lovebird) had died. She and Raisin had survived a sinking of our boat and multiple trips to NY and VT as well as several trips aboard the boat…some as long as a month. Perhaps she missed Raisin. She was over 10, but it was still unsettling to have them pass away 3 days apart.
We buried her at Jo Anne’s.
Today we are visiting the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary.
They have many kinds of bee hives….Top Bars….
Honey Comb shaped hives…..
Langstroth hives…..
There are even a few Warre Hives mixed in.
Their mission is"” to promote sustainable and biodynamic beekeeping through education, research”, where people can learn to help care for and plant for Honey Bees. They give classes for hive management without drugs.
They are testing different styles of hive and even ways to keep them. The hive entrances are on the far side.
They have several water spots for the bees…this is just a large ornamental basin with rocks for the bees to sit on so they don’t drown.
They even have chickens…I like the screen door for ventilation and the low roof over the entrance. Looks like it would keep rain and snow out.
They have some beautiful gardens and most of them had Milkweed planted in them for the butterflies.
They gave us a great tour…Jo Anne took lots of notes on what to plant and how to plant for the bees and butterflies.
They had a beautiful garden…look at how well this butterfly blends with the sunflower.
I was very pleased to see there are a lot of others out there who want to keep Honey Bees treatment free. I am trying to do the same. I use no pesticides or herbicides on my yard…needless to say…I have lots of flowering weeds for the bees. I try to plant a lot of native flowers but do plant bushes that produce a lot of flowers for them.
It was well worth the trip to Spikenard’s. We really enjoyed it. Cant wait to get home and see my bees. I caught a swarm 2 days before we left and put it in my Top Bar Hive. My neighbor says they are still there.
No comments:
Post a Comment